Completion of Acquisition of US Uranium/Vanadium

RNS Number : 4531Y

Thor Mining PLC

09 September 2020

 

9 September 2020

THOR MINING PLC

US URANIUM / VANADIUM PROJECT
COMPLETION OF ACQUISITION

The directors of Thor Mining Plc ("Thor" or the "Company") (AIM, ASX: THR) are pleased to advise completion of the acquisition of American Vanadium Pty Ltd (AVU), including its subsidiaries and uranium and vanadium  projects.

AVU holds interests in uranium and vanadium focussed projects in Colorado and Utah in the United States of America. The Company announced on 1 June 2020 an option agreement to acquire AVU, subject to satisfaction of due diligence requirements.

Thor will now proceed with the issue of 24 million Ordinary shares of 0.01p each, in full payment of the Acquisition Fee for a 100% interest in AVU.

Highlights:

· Acquisition of American Vanadium complete.

· Colorado project claims include historical mines with historical production activity over a period of more than 100 years.

· Utah project claims have reported historical drilling with significant intersections of uranium and vanadium.

· Field sampling by Thor during due diligence period showed assay results of high grade uranium (up to 1.25%U₃O₈ ) and vanadium (up to 3.47% V₂O₅)

Mick Billing, Executive Chairman of Thor Mining, commented:

"We are very pleased to complete the acquisition of 100% of American Vanadium and its high grade uranium and vanadium claims."

"Thor has a well balanced portfolio of very attractive assets with copper, gold, tungsten & now uranium & vanadium. "

PROJECT ACQUISITION

The Company has completed the acquisition of 100% of the shares in American Vanadium Pty Ltd, a private Australian company, which in turn owns 100% each of the shares in Colorado company Standard Minerals INC (Standard), and Utah company Cisco Minerals INC (Cisco).

Acquisition consideration comprises

-  A$100,100 exclusivity fee, which has been paid, of which A$50,100 was satisfied by the issue of 8,350,000 ordinary shares of 0.01p each in Thor ("Ordinary Shares") ("Exclusivity Fee").

-  A$144,000 acquisition fee satisfied by the issue of 24 million Ordinary Shares ("Acquisition Fee"), to be issued shortly.

-  Future payments through the issue of performance rights, over three stages, to receive up to 102 million Ordinary Shares subject to achievement of  project milestones.

Following the acquisition, the parties have agreed a series of performance payments, of:

· First performance - A$108,000 through the issue of 18,000,000 Ordinary Shares, on 15 or more samples from three of more adits/shafts at Radium Mountain & Wedding Bell prospects returning grades >= 0.1% U₃O₈, or 1.0% V₂O₅, or equivalent* within six months of execution of the Share Agreement.

· Second Performance  - A$252,000 through the issue of 42,000,000 Ordinary Shares on drilling ore grade intercepts from at least three holes from any deposits within the licences, at a product of grade and thickness of >= 0.4% U₃O_8, or equivalent*. For example, 4m @ 1,000ppm U₃O₈ or 1m @ 4,000ppm U₃O₈.

· Third Performance - A$252,000 through the issue of 42,000,000 Ordinary Shares on reporting a mineral resource in either the inferred, indicated or measured category (reported in accordance with the JORC Code, 2012 Edition) of, or equivalent* to 5million tonnes @ >= 0.1% U₃O₈, or 1.0% V₂O₅, or equivalent*.

* Uranium equivalentwill be calculated taking into account, in addition to uranium, credits for vanadium making up part of the relevant polymetallic deposit that have a reasonable potential to be recovered and sold, according to a formula that will be used and published in accordance with clause 50 of the JORC Code.

MARKET OUTLOOK FOR URANIUM AND VANADIUM

Uranium

Power from nuclear reactors accounted for 20% of US domestic power requirement in 2019, while globally nuclear generation supplies approximately 10% of demand.  Nuclear power is acknowledged to provide stable, baseload, and low carbon power supply.

A total of 53 new nuclear reactors are under construction globally, with solid order books for more and  approximately 300 additionally proposed.  The inference is that uranium demand is likely to increase over the next 15 years or so.  The US imports much of its uranium requirement for power generation.

Depressed uranium pricing over the last decade has resulted in very few new projects commencing development.  This suggests that a supply shortage may emerge in the next few years.

The Nuclear Fuels Working Group (NFWG) that was established last year in response to the Section 232 from the USA uranium sector has released their recommendations. The key points are that a uranium stockpile will be established and the nuclear fuel cycle will be streamlined, with purchasing of enrichment and conversion capability, and also a streamlined approvals process. 

Among the key recommendations from the NFWG strategy is the proposal of direct purchases of uranium and nuclear fuel services to expand five-fold the American Assured Fuel Supply strategic inventory stockpile.

Vanadium

Vanadium is an important contributor to improving the tensile strength of steel, with the overwhelming bulk of vanadium demand applied to production of reinforcing steel to add tensile strength to concrete.  It is also used in aerospace & has chemical and catalyst applications.  More recently it has developed a significant market in battery applications with vanadium redox flow batteries used to store and release large amounts of energy.

China accounts for over 50% of global supply, most of which is co-production from steel slag.  Supply is largely constrained by capped co-production capacity, and there are a limited number of global primary producers.

In 2018, China mandated a standard for Chinese grade 3 rebar, substantially increasing the vanadium content of reinforcing steel.

ASSETS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

A processing plant which has historically taken ore from the region on a toll treatment basis is located near Blanding, within relatively close proximity to the claims held by these companies.  Thor have not had contact with the operators of this plant to date, however this may represent a potential low cost entry into production.

Colorado Claims

Standard holds 199 contiguous Bureau of Land Management (BLM) claims in south west Colorado, and within the Uravan Mineral Belt.  The claims include the Wedding Bell and Radium Mountain groups of mines which are reported to have operated during the first world war and again in the second half of the 20^th century (USGS Professional paper 300^a).

^a   https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp300  

The Uravan Mineral Belt and adjacent uranium-vanadium mining districts of the Colorado Plateau are reported to have produced, over the past 100 years, in excess of 85million lbs U3O8 and over 660 million lbs of V2O5² from the Salt Wash sandstone formation of the Plateau.  The average production grades from the Uravan Mineral Belt from the 1940's  to January 1979 are reported be 0.25% U3O8 and 1.29% V2O5 (Thamm. et al., 1981^b)  Average vanadium to uranium ratios are reported to vary from 0.5 : 1 to 40 : 1.

^b www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/6512174  

 During the due diligence period, the Company carried out a program of sampling over and nearby, historical mine workings in the Colorado claims which have been shown to host very high grade uranium and vanadium mineralisation, which is considered typical of historical production performance in the Uravan  Mineral Belt.

Assay results from these samples have been previously reported in:

www.thormining.com/sites/thormining/media/pdf/asx-announcements/20200708-us-uranium.vanadium-sampling-assays.pdf , and also in www.thormining.com/sites/thormining/media/pdf/asx-announcements/20200721-high-grade-uranium-assays.colorado-field-sampling.pdf

Utah Claims

Cisco holds 100 BLM claims in south east Utah approximately 40km north of the town of Moab.  Significant uranium and vanadium mineralisation is reported from drilling activities by Hunt Oil, Mineral Division, in 1980 and 1981; Terra Ventures (TSX-V: TAS), May 21 2007.

https://www.thormining.com/sites/thormining/media/miscellaneous/terra-ventures-20070521.pdf

Thor Mining wishes to reiterate that the Hunt Oil estimate 1980 - 81 does not comply with either the JORC or NI 43-101 guidelines for mineral resource reporting and is therefore not a valid resource estimate. The Hunt Oil estimate does however provide substantial indication of widespread uranium - vanadium mineralisation in the Cisco mineral claims in a similar geological setting to multiple deposits elsewhere in the region including the previously mined Colorado mineral claims included in this acquisition.

The review team visited the site to assess access issues associated with potential drilling campaigns.  The area has good local infrastructure and is at the northern margin of the historic uranium mining area of Thompson Yellow Cat mining district.

Available data to date of the Vanadium King (Utah) historical drilling suggests that the historical drilling programs focussed solely on uranium mineralisation hosted in the Brushy Basin Member of the Jurassic Morrison Formation.  Historical mining of the nearby Thompson Creek group of mines reported high-grade uranium ore from the underlying Salt Wash Member - a likely focus for future work by Thor. Thor's local consultants have suggested that the deeper and normally higher-grade Salt Wash Member remains substantially untested by drilling, in this area. 

FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE ACQUISTION

The following information in relation to the acquisition is provided pursuant to Schedule 4 of AIM Rules for Companies:

1.  The vendors of American Vanadium Pty Ltd are:

a.  Celtic Capital Pty Ltd (20%)

b.  Coral Brook Pty Ltd (20%)

c.  Paranoid Enterprises Pty Ltd (40%)

d.  Hollywood Marketing (WA) Pty Ltd (20%)

2.  The most recent audited financial statements, being for the period ending 30 June 2019, the Consolidated Group reported a net loss of A$196,766 (approximately £109,100) and net assets of A$214,262 (approximately £119,000).

SHARE ISSUE

The Company will shortly issue 24,000,000 Ordinary Shares in full payment of the Acquisition consideration.

SETTLEMENT AND DEALINGS

Application will be made to the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange ("AIM") for a total of 24,000,000 Ordinary Shares, pursuant to the Initial Issue, which will rank pari passu with the Company's existing issued Ordinary Shares, to be admitted to trading. Dealings on AIM are expected to commence at 8:00am on or around 15 September 2020 ("Admission").

TOTAL VOTING RIGHTS

For the purposes of the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules ("DTRs"), following Admission, Thor will have 1,306,171,467 Ordinary Shares in issue with voting rights attached. Thor holds no shares in treasury. This figure of 1,306,171,467 may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in the Company, under the ASX Listing Rules or the DTRs.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Enquiries:

Mick Billing [phone] Thor Mining PLC Executive Chairman Ray Ridge [phone] Thor Mining PLC CFO/Company Secretary Samantha Harrison/Niall McDonald [phone] Grant Thornton UK LLP  Nominated Adviser Nick Emerson [phone] SI Capital Ltd Broker

Competent Person's Report

The information in this report that relates to exploration results is based on information compiled by Richard Bradey, who holds a BSc in applied geology and an MSc in natural resource management and who is a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Bradey is an employee of Thor Mining PLC. He has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'.  Richard Bradey consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Updates on the Company's activities are regularly posted on Thor's website www.thormining.com , which includes a facility to register to receive these updates by email, and on the Company's twitter page @ThorMining.

About Thor Mining PLC

Thor Mining PLC (AIM, ASX: THR) is a resources company quoted on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange and on ASX in Australia.

Thor holds 100% of the advanced Molyhil tungsten project in the Northern Territory of Australia, for which an updated feasibility study in August 2018¹ suggested attractive returns.

Adjacent Molyhil, at Bonya, Thor holds a 40% interest in deposits of tungsten, copper, and vanadium, including an Inferred resource for the Bonya copper deposit².

Thor is also acquiring up to a 30% interest Australian copper development company EnviroCopper Limited, which in turn holds rights to earn up to a 75% interest in the mineral rights and claims over the resource on the portion of the historic Kapunda copper mine in South Australia recoverable by way of in situ recovery⁴, and also holds rights to earn a 75% interest in portion of the Moonta Copper project also in South Australia, and is considered amenable to recovery by way of in situ recovery⁵.

Thor also holds 100% of the Pilot Mountain tungsten project in Nevada USA which has a JORC 2012 Indicated and Inferred Resources Estimate³ on 2 of the 4 known deposits. The US Department of the Interior has confirmed that tungsten, the primary resource mineral at Pilot Mountain, has been included in the final list of Critical Minerals ⁶2018.

The Company also has exciting gold interests at Ragged Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Notes

¹ Refer ASX and AIM announcement of 23 August 2018

² Refer ASX and AIM announcement of 26 November 2018

³ Refer AIM announcement of 13 December 2018 and ASX announcement of 14 December 2018

⁴ Refer AIM announcement of 10 February 2016 and ASX announcement of 12 February 2018

⁵ Refer ASX and AIM announcement of 15 August 2019

 

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